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Review: Hesitation Wounds – Awake For Everything

“The soap opera performance of media politics has worn itself thin.” – Within one minute of Hesitation Wounds’ first full length record Jeremy Bolm spills his gut on contemporary politics. Bolm is mostly known for his role in Touché Amoré, but joined forces with Neeraj Kane (The Hope Conspiracy), Scuba LaCour (Trap Them) and Jay Weinberg (Against Me!, Slipknot) several years ago. The band released a 7” on Bold’s own label in 2012 but became mostly silent after.

Now Hesitation Wounds is back. In 26 minutes they blast through 11 songs on their album Awake For Everything. Due to Bolm’s distinctive voice, the comparison between Hesitation Wounds and Touché Amoré is never far away. Well, here it is. Less poetic, more direct. Less individual, more political. And aggressive. Really aggressive.

If one were to choose which former band of the members comes closest to the sound of Hesitation Wounds, then it would probably be The Hope Conspiracy. On speed. But the band is much more than the sum of its individual components. Heartfelt anger about the world around us blends naturally with the musical songwriting experience of the band members.

A song like ‘Guthrie’ is exemplary for Awake For Everything. Bolm screaming at the top of his lungs about the decline of American society (“A country that once had open arms is a selfish child with intent to harm. We need to clip the right wing.”) while Weinberg holds a ferocious speed behind the drum kit. Despite the velocity of the album, Awake For Everything still finds time for build-up and sudden changes of pace, best illustrated in ‘Away’ and ‘Ends (Pt. 2)’.

One can only hope that the band members find some time in between their individual tour schedules to hit the road with Hesitation Wounds. An album so intense and aggressive should make for one hell of a live experience.